“There is no bad soldier, only bad commander,” said Prabowo in a discussion in DIGDAYA TV through Facebook channel. It means that subordinated don’t do mistakes, however, there is a commander who mistakenly lead his subordinates to make mistakes.

“To be a leader is not an easy one. When I was in military, I am the lucky person who is led by good commander who always gives good examples”. Prabowo remembers those old days.

It was in 1978 when my rank is first lieutenant. I was given a duty to lead a company so called KOPASSANDHA (KOMANDO PASUKAN SANDHI YUDHA) the old name of special force in the army of Indonesia or KOPASSUS. It is an honorable duty for me since I was the youngest and pointed to lead the troop and heading to Timor Timur or Timor Leste.

“One of my commanders was Pak Wismoyo Arismunandar. He was a lieutenant colonel. In one occasion before heading to Timor Timur, he asked to meet him. When we met each other he said; Prabowo, are you ready to leave on duty?

I answered firmly, yes all are ready commander! Troop, logistic, medicines, and other supporting equipment are ready. But there is something is missing from my report. He seriously reminded me about this and said;

“You are still young and you are given a duty to lead a company. There are 100 troops under your responsibility to conduct military operation. Your duty is approaching death. There are 100 souls in your shoulder. They also have family and relatives. It means that they are hoping from you to save them and back home safely”.

As a Moslem commander you need to pray diligently and become the pious slave of Allah. You need to close to Allah. That message is vividly in my mind until now.

“After the meeting I was asked to visit his house. I thought I was given “money” for additional supply before involving in war; in fact I was given a praying mat as the tool to close to Allah. It is an excellent example given by a commander to his subordinate to remind me. When all are done preparedly, we can’t forget that we leave the rest to Allah. My commander reminds me to do the same to be a role model too”. Prabowo added.